African Charity Sues Prince Harry For Defamation

An African AIDS charity co-founded by Britain's Prince Harry said on Friday it had launched legal proceedings against him for "reputational harm", as the royal "categorically" rejected the  defamation claims.

Harry helped found the Sentebale charity in 2006 in honour of his late mother, Princess Diana. But he quit the institution last year amid a bitter governance dispute with its chairperson. 

King Charles III's younger son and Mark Dyer, who was also previously a Sentebale trustee, are both named as defendants in the case at London's High Court, according to court filings.

"As Sentebale's co-founder and a founding trustee, they categorically reject these offensive and damaging claims," a spokesperson for the pair said in a statement.

"It is extraordinary that charitable funds are now being used to pursue legal action against the very people who built and supported the organisation for nearly two decades, rather than being directed to the communities the charity was created to serve," the statement added.

Sentebale said earlier in a statement sent to AFP it had commenced legal proceedings in the High Court "following a coordinated adverse media campaign... that has caused operational disruption and reputational harm to the charity, its leadership and its strategic partners".

The case was filed by Sentebale on March 24, according to the court filings.

The case type is described as "Media and Communication -- Part 7 Claim -- Defamation -- libel and slander".

"The proceedings have been brought against Prince Harry and Mark Dyer, identified through evidence as the architects of that adverse media campaign, which has had significant viral impact and triggered an onslaught of cyber-bullying directed at the charity and its leadership," Sentebale added in its statement.

In August 2025, the UK's Charity Commission pointed to "mismanagement" at the charity.

But it found no evidence of "bullying" -- a charge that had been levelled at Harry by the organisation's chairperson, Sophie Chandauka, in March 2025.

The charity was launched to help young people with HIV and AIDS in Lesotho and later Botswana.

Harry and co-founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho announced last year they were resigning from the charity, after the trustees quit.

The trustees walked out when Chandauka refused their demand to step down.

Bitter dispute

After an inquiry, the Charity Commission said it had "found no evidence of widespread or systemic bullying or harassment, including misogyny or misogynoir (prejudice against black women) at the charity".

But it "criticised all parties to the dispute for allowing it to play out publicly", saying the "damaging internal dispute" had "severely impacted the charity's reputation".

It found there was "a lack of clarity in delegations" which led to "mismanagement in the administration of the charity" and issued the organisation with a plan to "address governance weaknesses".

Speaking to British media after accusing the prince of trying to force her out, Chandauka criticised Harry for his decision to bring a Netflix camera crew to a fundraiser in 2024. 

She also objected to an unplanned appearance by his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex at the event.

The accusations were a fresh blow for the prince, who kept only a handful of his private patronages, including with Sentebale, after splitting with the British royal family in 2020. 

He left Britain to live in North America with his wife and children.

Harry chose the name Sentebale as a tribute to Diana, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997 when the prince was just 12. 

It means "forget me not" in the Sesotho language and is also used to say goodbye.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)